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At least 16 people in the state of Zamfara in the north-west of Nigeria have been killed in a military plane, apparently suspected of being terrorists.
Residents of the area told local media that the victims were members of the local security forces and civilians who were protecting themselves from notorious criminals who kidnap people for ransom.
The insurgents fought the insurgents in Zurmi and Maradun area and the state governor, Dauda Lawal, condoled with the community.
The military has admitted that it carried out airstrikes, which it says have “destroyed the bandits who have been harassing villages in the region”.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it was investigating “reports of damage to security guards”.
“Although the operation successfully neutralized several bandits and resulted in the recovery of some of the abductees, the NAF is deeply saddened by the loss of civilian lives during the operation,” it said.
It added that the “thorough investigation” being carried out will establish the facts of the matter, which “will be disclosed to inform and reassure the public”.
The AFP news agency reported that a local resident said that civilians were returning to their villages after fleeing the bandits after being bombed.
The villagers “found 16 bodies from the terrorists and took several more seriously injured people,” said Sa’idu Ibrahim.
The rights group Amnesty International in Nigeria has said that 20 people were killed and many others were injured in the attack on the village of Tunga Kara, and called on the authorities to “immediately and impartially” investigate what happened.
“Initiating airstrikes is not a legitimate form of law enforcement by anyone’s standards. Such reckless use is illegal, despicable and shows the Nigerian military’s shocking disregard for the lives of those it is supposed to protect,” it said. .
In recent years, Nigeria’s security forces have been battling powerful insurgents, known as insurgents, who have been carrying out attacks in the north-west and central areas. The bandits raid villages, burn houses, kill and kidnap people for ransom.
There have been several accidental air strikes in recent months including the Christmas bombings that killed at least 10 people in the neighboring state of Sokoto.
In 2023, at least 85 people, mostly women and children, who attended an Islamic religious meeting in a village in Kaduna state were killed when they were suspected of being bandits.
In January 2017, at least 112 people were killed when a plane crashed into a camp housing 40,000 people who fled their homes due to Jihadist violence in a town near the Cameroon border.
